The Biden administration is considering providing temporary identification cards to undocumented migrants while they wait for decisions regarding their immigration statuses.
According to Axios, officials are planning a pilot program that would give immigrants easier access to healthcare, housing, and transportation “while also incentivizing more frequent communication with law enforcement throughout the complicated court process”.
As of right now, illegal immigrants going through court proceedings need to physically check in at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office.
“The ICE Secure Docket Card program is part of a pilot program to modernize various forms of documentation provided to provisionally released noncitizens through a consistent, verifiable, secure card,” an ICE spokesperson told Axios.
Sources said the cards would likely include a “QR code that would provide the enrollee access to court information and documents via an app”.
Unauthorized immigrants would also be able to use the card to prove to authorities that they are already in the immigration system.
Congress has already allotted $10 million in the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations bill to the “ICE Secure Docket Card program, but it needs Congressional approval before the end of September.
If the program is allowed to proceed, the cards “could be presented to TSA agents to allow unauthorized immigrants to more easily travel by plane or to access certain state benefit programs,” reported Axios.
Cards will contain a photo, biographic identifiers, and “cutting-edge security features,” said the spokesperson.
“During the worst border crisis in history, the Biden administration is now handing out ID cards to illegal migrants to make it easier to travel throughout the United States,” said House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy to DailyMail.com.
“This is the exact opposite of what he should be doing,” he added.
